Access 2010: The Missing Manual

Printing, Previewing, and Exporting a Report

Once you’ve created the perfect report, it’s time to share it with rest of the world. Most commonly, you’ll choose to print it.

Figure 10-12. A common mistake when deleting columns is to click a column and then press Delete. Unfortunately, this deletes either the column header or the entire column except the header (as shown with the Price column here), depending on where you click. As a result, Access isn’t able to rearrange the report to fill in the empty space. If you have this problem, click Undo and try again, using the column selection technique described on page 308. Or, just finish the job by right-clicking the column and choosing Delete Column.

Printing a report is easy—simply select the port in the navigation pane (it doesn’t even need to be open), and choose File→Print→Print. But before you inadvertently fire off an 87-page customer list in jumbo 24-point font, it’s a good idea to preview the end result. Access makes it easy with its integrated Print Preview feature.

Previewing a Report

To get a preview of what your printed report will look like, select it in the navigation pane and choose File→Print→Print Preview. Or, if the report is already open, you can right-click the report tab title and choose Print Preview.

Print Preview mode doesn’t let you make any changes or select any part of the report. You’re ...